Chapter 345.2: Steamed Buns

So, he's going for that. Ye Yulin had been watching Huo Yuhao this entire time, and he heaved a sigh of admiration inside. He's going to work on his formation arrays after everything else has been completed. Even though this method isn't worth complimenting, his intricate and exquisite mechanical parts are simply too beautiful. I wonder what this soul tool can do? I have to speak to this young fellow after the tournament!

A smile finally appeared on Huo Yuhao's face, and his hands were starting to move faster and faster. He was piecing together the mechanical parts on his crafting desk once more, and even the Class 9 soul engineers who were watching him felt a little dazed and befuddled as he completed all those fine and delicate steps.

These Class 9 soul engineers had good eyes. Even though they didn't really understand what these mechanical parts were for, they could tell that every piece that Huo Yuhao created was assembled compactly and seamlessly. Whole parts were starting to appear, and everything was becoming more streamlined. This wholeness was the most attractive thing in a soul engineer's eyes.

"Impressive! Tang Wu is such a genius." An elderly man sitting beside Ye Yulin couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

The seven judges were sitting on the competition stage, so their voices would directly affect the competitors if they were a little too loud. However, this judge still blurted these words in the end, so it wasn't hard to imagine how shaken he was by Huo Yuhao's work.

Ye Yulin nodded gently and said, "You've realized it too, Old Wang?"

The elderly man he was speaking to snapped, "Old Ye, my eyes still work. How can I not tell? However, can you tell which family is adept with those sophisticated mechanical parts?" He was naturally referring to soul engineer sects.

Ye Yulin shook his head and answered, "I have seen soul tools that are supported by mechanical parts, but this is the first time that I've seen so many mechanical parts being used at the same time. However, I have a gut feeling that this youth can create a whole new era in soul tools. It looks like we were wrong before."

Old Wang forced a laugh and said, "Can you not be so direct? I'm getting old, so I can't take a blow like that anymore. Even though I know that our path is a little off, we can only continue on it, now that we're old."

Ye Yulin grunted disdainfully and said, "That's just your opinion. I don't believe we can't change our paths, and I'm still very young. I'll have no problem living for another hundred years."

Old Wang contemplated for a moment, then heaved a faint sigh as he said, "Your relentless pursuit for more... this has always been the difference between you and I, and this is also the reason why I've always been one class beneath you. However, no matter how highly you regard this youngster, you have to call me when you want to discuss fusing mechanical parts and soul tools after the tournament."

"How about us?" Several other judges couldn't help but express themselves on the other side.

Ye Yulin raised his right hand, and a soundproofing light screen encompassed everyone inside so that their conversation wouldn't affect the contestants who were still hard at work.

"All of you are so shameless. You're behaving like a mosquito when it sees blood. You guys can watch and listen, but nobody can snatch him from me. You have to understand that I've paid with my blood and sweat, and I've taken out the Sun Moon Divine Needle that I've just developed," Ye Yulin said hatefully to the other judges.

The other six soul engineers couldn't compare to Ye Yulin in terms of their status within the soul engineer world, and everyone felt a little helpless and exasperated as they watched his domineering and authoritative attitude.

Old Wang immediately tried to relieve the tension. "Alright, that's enough. Old Ye, we can see your efforts, we won't snatch him from you. However, everyone has discovered this at the same time. We want to study this together. Furthermore, everyone can participate in this research together. The truth is, those three bull** underground organizations' tournament rules are just nonsensical. What do soul engineers compete with? Besides the soul tool itself, soul engineers compete with design and creativity. So many soul tools today have been developed from creativity and innovation. I think Tang Wu's innovation of integrating mechanical parts into his human-shaped soul tool so that he doesn't have to create so many formation arrays is enough to crown him as champion. If anyone dares to make an attempt on his life in the subsequent rounds, hmph!"

Ye Yulin glanced at him and said, "Do I need you? Look up in the sky. What are those things? Do you think I'm useless?"

One of the other judges blurted out, "That doesn't seem very nice. These three underground organizations have given us so much. If we ruin the tournament..."

Ye Yulin shot a glare in his direction, and he seemed like he was going to explode at any moment. He growled, "Bull**. Let me ask you, Old Zhang, is this bull** tournament important compared to a new era of soul tools? Is it?!"

Old Zhang was clearly losing this argument, and his voice became a little feeble. "Alright, alright. If you say so, Old Ye. However, we still have to try and avoid going overboard. Furthermore, if this youth can't even finish his soul tool before the time's up, he can't even participate in the following rounds."

Ye Yulin grunted coldly. "It's alright if he doesn't. At most, I can make another set of Sun Moon Divine Needles as a gift to him."

So fierce! Old Wang thought to himself. Ye Yulin has become so shameless because of this outstanding youngster. He's making it clear that he's going to claim this kid by force. Pity! What a pity! Why didn't I meet this outstanding young man earlier?

The judges were discussing amongst themselves on one side, and Huo Yuhao seemed to feel a chill run down his spine on the other side. He looked up subconsciously, and he was met with the gazes of the judges who were staring right at him from within their soundproofing barrier.

Shucks, I'm showing off a little too much. Hah! I should have made the soul tool and pieced the shell together before assembling all the mechanical parts inside the shell. What a pity!

Forget it, I'm just going to play with them for a little bit.

A playful smile appeared at the corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth. He suddenly raised his head and exaggerated his motions as he gazed up into the sky, and his facial features instantly became slack and lackadaisical.

The judges had been focusing their attention on him this entire time, and they were all shocked by his sudden change of expression. Every soul engineer would have the same reaction at a time like this no matter what class they were in, and they followed Huo Yuhao's eyes into the sky.

But they quickly realized that Huo Yuhao was staring up into the darkness... where there was nothing at all.

What they didn't know was that when their eyes shifted away, a twisting beam of light pierced discreetly through the soundproofing layer outside and soundlessly entered the back of Huo Yuhao's head.

This time, Huo Yuhao's body actually trembled.

When the judges' eyes returned to his face, they saw that Huo Yuhao had a look of epiphany, and he quickly lowered his head and continued piecing his mechanical joints together.

Old Wang heaved a sigh of admiration. "This fellow is so scary. I actually thought he saw something, but it turns out he's just thought through some conundrum. A sudden revelation for someone of his talent and caliber must be pretty good. Look, he's working on his formation arrays now. Eh? His carving knife is pretty. Is that one of the ranked carving knives?"

Wasn't that right? Huo Yuhao was starting to craft his formation arrays on the other side. The carving knife in his hands was a strange knife that was completely green in color, and filled with life energy.

Yes, Huo Yuhao's separated spiritual avatar finally had hurried back at that moment. When everything fused back together, Huo Yuhao instantly felt all his mental weakness wash away in that moment. He even felt as if something had become purer within him at that moment.

This is just fantastic! Huo Yuhao heaved a sigh of admiration inside. At the same time, the Life Guardian Blade that had just returned to him began to dance in the palm of his hand.

Huo Yuhao's spiritual avatar had helped the three girls complete their operation, and he had helped them do a couple more things afterwards before they left to meet up with Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan. Huo Yuhao had told them to return to the Brilliant Delight Hotel and take Bei Bei to the western suburbs before he immediately separated from everyone, and his spiritual avatar hurried back to his main body as quickly as possible.

Wang Dong'er was the one who had fired those two signals when they had departed the underground warehouse.

A faint smile trembled on Huo Yuhao's face; he really wanted to laugh right now. His smile was full of satisfaction.

We've profited so much today. This time, the Sun Moon Empire has given me a generous gift, and I've left them a generous one as well. These two presents should be enough to greatly delay their invasion plans.

Huo Yuhao felt a lot more spirited as he thought about this, and his hands subconsciously began to work at full speed.

All seven judges were at least Class 8 soul engineers, and every single one of them had widened eyes and slack jaws as they stared at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao's movements were slowing down a little, but after his "epiphany" in that instant, he began to work on his formation arrays rapidly, as if he had been injected with adrenaline.

The first rare metal he used was a special metal known as Diamond Essencegold. Diamond Essencegold was refined and purified from gold. Typically, only thirty grams of Diamond Essencegold could be purified from a single kilogram of gold. This rare metal was seldom used because it was too expensive and luxurious, but its unique characteristics were very impressive.

Diamond Essencegold was an excellent conductor of soul power, just like gold, and Diamond Essencegold's inner compact refractive structure could amplify soul power undulations.

There was a special soul tool known as a Soul Power Amplifier, and Diamond Essencegold was most essential in crafting it. A Soul Power Amplifier could only be completed using Diamond Essencegold to craft its formation arrays.